Ballerina Review: Some Great Action Scenes Can't Save This Dull John Wick Spin-Off

Finally, here's a movie that answers the question, "What would happen if two people shot flamethrowers at each other?" In "Ballerina," things get off to an extremely bumpy start, plodding along with an almost alarming dullness. And then, suddenly, "Ballerina" finds its footing and starts unleashing one delightfully absurd action scene after another. The bottom line: any time the film leans into action, it's a blast. Anytime it slows down to have characters deliver dreary world-building exposition, it's an absolute slog liable to put you in a coma. Perhaps all the action will be enough for some viewers, and I'll confess there are several violent scenarios here that had me laughing with glee and appreciating their inventiveness. But gosh, everything surrounding those action scenes is a real drag, man.

As the marketing makes clear, "Ballerina" is a spin-off of the "John Wick" franchise (the posters go so far as to give the film the extremely clunky title "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina," even though that title never appears on screen). Every trailer has put Keanu Reeves' monosyllabic assassin front and center, as if he were a main player in the narrative. To be fair, John Wick ends up playing a bigger part in the film's finale than I expected, but this is little more than a glorified cameo. Still, I get why Reeves is slapped all over the trailers: we love him.

The "John Wick" films work for lots of reasons — the action is great, the filmmaking is stylish and exciting, and there's an increasingly complex lore to get wrapped up in. But let's be honest: the biggest draw of those films is watching Keanu Reeves kill a bunch of people. We don't really care about the mythology — we care about watching Keanu Reeves in the middle of it all. This is a hypothesis the franchise has already proven: after all, when was the last time anyone talked about the Reevesless TV spin-off series "The Continental"? Did you even remember that existed? Probably not. 

While Reeves gets some moments to shoot guns in "Ballerina," the film is also trying to launch the franchise in a new direction with a new main character, Ana de Armas' Eve Macarro. To her credit, de Armas, an alluring, charismatic performer, is highly capable here: we completely buy her kicking the ever-loving crap out of a series of nameless henchmen as she carves a bloody path through the film. But "Ballerina" lacks the operatic, almost mythical mayhem that made the Wick films so memorable. Ironically, having Reeves pop up throughout "Ballerina" serves as a distraction. John Wick's story was so clear, so focused in his own movies that it really doesn't make much sense for him to be here. It seems highly unlikely that he would give a damn about the events taking place in "Ballerina." Why not let our new heroine Eve have the spotlight in her own story? Probably because that story isn't all that interesting.

Like "John Wick," "Ballerina" uses revenge as its launchpad. When Eve was a child, her father was murdered by a mysterious man played by Gabriel Byrne. Orphaned, Eve is taken in by the ritual-loving assassins known as the Ruska Roma, and raised as part of a ballet school that teaches its students to both dance and kill people (this organization, fronted by a game Anjelica Huston, was introduced in "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," and "Ballerina" is set between the events of that film and "John Wick: Chapter 4"). Eve grows up to be a highly skilled assassin/bodyguard and seemingly forgets all about avenging the murder of her father ... until a random encounter fires her up again.

All of this unfolds in the first hour of the film and it's such tedious, exposition-heavy stuff that I found myself sinking in my seat. Is this really what you want to give us, movie? This drudgery? I'm sorry, but having Wick characters like Ian McShane's Continental owner Winston and the late, great Lance Reddick as Charon, the hotel's concierge, show up does little but remind us of other, better movies. But all is not lost, and "Ballerina" finally starts to thrill when it has Eve engaging in a series of increasingly outlandish (complimentary) action scenes.

In one sequence, Eve battles a series of bad guys using nothing but a series of hand grenades, and I have to admit: I've never seen that in an action movie before, and it's fun to watch (at one point, she jams a grenade into some poor dude's mouth then uses a metal door to shield herself while he explodes). Ditto a moment where Eve and another character start smashing dinner plates on each other's heads like they're in the middle of a Three Stooges skit (the Stooges even get a shout-out in the film). The action is genuinely exciting (although I have to wonder how much of it was shot by credited director Len Wiseman, and how much was created during reshoots undertaken by "John Wick" franchise filmmaker Chad Stahelski), but there's really not enough of it to keep "Ballerina" afloat.

There are neat ideas here and there. Byrne's character, called the Chancellor, leads an entire town full of assassins who are part of a cult, and the idea of a cult in the complicated, labyrinthine world of "John Wick" is potentially exciting. Sadly, the script, credited to Shay Hatten, has no real interest in exploring who they are or what they want. Byrne is a wonderful actor and he's appropriately grumpy here, but he's given absolutely nothing to work with. He mostly just stands around complaining.

As for Eve, she's a little lackluster, although de Armas is trying her best to fix that. John Wick was a fascinating character because Reeves made him so stoic and mysterious. Sure, he was seeking bloody revenge over the murder of a cute dog, but he was also grappling with grief and decades of violence. We can feel the weight of the world pressing down on Reeves' shoulders. Eve, in contrast, is kind of a blank slate. John Wick managed to feel complex while saying very few words; Eve talks more but comes across as rather one-dimensional. I fully believed she was capable of beating people up, I just didn't find her that compelling. 

"Ballerina" makes for a conflicting experience. Time and time again, I thought the film had lost me — only for a clever, funny, and well-staged action sequence to suddenly arrive and kick my ass. The end result gave me a bit of whiplash: I went from not enjoying the film to having the time of my life in a split-second, and then back to being bored again.

Eventually, it all began to wear a little thin. I know Lionsgate is hellbent on keeping the "John Wick" universe alive (they're planning on making a whole new film with Reeves even though "John Wick: Chapter 4" felt like the perfect end to the character's story), but "Ballerina" suggests there's only so far you can stretch this premise before everything starts to grow stale. 

It doesn't help that the filmmaking is frequently flat. The "John Wick" movies, particularly "John Wick: Chapter 4," are visual feasts with shots that take my breath away. "Ballerina" is surprisingly bland to look at. Sure, it's a lot of fun watching beautiful assassin Ana de Armas pick up a flamethrower and burn some dudes to a crisp, but a film featuring such an exciting concept shouldn't be this forgettable.

/Film Rating: 5 out of 10

"Ballerina" opens in theaters on June 6, 2025.